Dirty Deception: Enviva’s Shocking Pattern of Air Quality Violations

For years, the industrial-scale wood pellet industry has been allowed to expand unchecked in the Southern U.S. While the negative impacts of burning wood pellets on our climate have been well documented, new research highlights another troubling aspect of this dirty industry: harmful pollution made worse by an shocking pattern of violations.

The Environmental Integrity Project report highlights the widespread air quality violations in the biomass industry. The report’s authors examined federal and state records for 21 wood pellet plants from Virginia to Texas.

More than half of wood pellet plants in the U.S. either failed to keep emissions below legal limits or failed to install required pollution controls.

One third of them (7 out of 21) violated their permits in 2017 by releasing illegal amounts of air pollution, while another four had faulty permits issued by states that failed to require pollution control equipment required by the federal Clean Air Act.

Of the 15 largest operating wood pellet facilities, at least eight have had fires or explosions since 2014, including at factories in North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas that released large amounts of air pollution and/or injured employees.

It should come as no surprise that North Carolina, home to three Enviva wood pellet facilities and a fourth underway, has been the most egregious in terms of allowing unnecessary and unlawful pollution from the industry. Due to North Carolina’s lax oversight and Enviva’s reluctance to install controls, the Enviva plants are the largest emitters of VOCs and hazardous air pollutants in the industry, emitting five to six times the level of VOCs and 50 times the level of hazardous air pollutants as comparable facilities.

The industry’s troubling pattern of air quality violations adds yet another burden to communities who often face pollution from other extractive industries.

These wood pellet producers, like Enviva, and the state regulators who have permitted them, are knowingly allowing polluting facilities to skirt federal Clean Air Act requirements and put at risk communities who are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and who have the least access to quality and affordable health care.

It is time for states to pump the brakes on an industry that has been deceiving investors, decision-makers, and communities from day one. Our state officials, armed with this new knowledge, should hold the biomass industry accountable and do right by communities. We call on state officials to fix permit and compliance issues, ensure that facilities install best available pollution controls, and halt the expansion of this industry.

Emily blends her love for the beautiful forests of the Southeastern U.S. with an enthusiasm for taking on the corporate interests that threaten our communities and our environment in the name of profit. She is a graduate of UNC Asheville, with BA degrees in Political Science and Sociology, and holds a Masters in International Studies and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from NC State. Emily is an avid hiker and traveler and has explored trails in locations ranging from the Appalachians to the Himalayas to the Amazon.

This is beyond atrocious! 45 has done nothing but deregulate the positive actions of President Obama and he continues to destroy our Country and our World!!! The PEOPLE must stand together and stop this madness of destroying our world and air for all human beings.